Drew Pember Named Big South Player of the Year, Mike Morrell Tabbed Big South Coach of the Year; Four Bulldogs Earn All-Big South Honors

BIG SOUTH RELEASE

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – UNC Asheville's Drew Pember and Head Men's Basketball Coach Mike Morrell have been voted the 2022-23 Big South Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year and Coach of the Year, respectively, by the league's head coaches and media panel, it was announced Tuesday afternoon by the conference office. Pember, who also repeated as the League's Defensive Player of the Year, headlined the All-Big South First Team along with fellow Bulldog Tajion Jones. Fletcher Abee, meanwhile, was Asheville's All-Academic Team honoree.

Pember put together one of the best seasons of any player in Big South history in 2022-23. The Knoxville, Tennessee native is the first player to lead the Big South in scoring, rebounding and blocks in a season. Pember, Lou Henson National Player of the Year Award Watch List honoree, leads the nation in free throws made (221) & attempted (267). Pember's best performance of the season came on January 25 when he scored a school record 48 points in a victory over Presbyterian.

Pember is just the second player in Big South history to sweep the Conference's Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year awards in the same season joining High Point's John Brown, who accomplished the same feat in 2015-16. Furthermore, Pember is the first Bulldog to be named Big South Player of the Year since Matt Dickey in 2011-12 and the fourth overall to do so joining Dickey, Josh Pittman, and Kevin Martin. The 2021-22 Big South Defensive Player of the Year as well, Pember joins former Bulldog Ahmad Thomas along with four other players as multiple-time winners of this award.

Morrell is the fourth Asheville coach to ever be named the Big South Coach of the Year joining Randy Wiel (1995-96), Eddie Biedenbach (1996-97, 2001-02, 2007-08), Nick McDevitt (2016-17). In his fifth season leading the Bulldogs, Morrell has led the Bulldogs to a record of 24-7 overall and 16-2 in Big South play. Both the overall win total (24) and conference win total (16) match the single-season program records. Additionally, Morrell's 2022-23 Bulldogs have won a school record 22 games against Division I opponents this season and they captured Asheville's fourth outright Big South Regular Season Championship and eighth overall.

Jones, a Preseason All-Big South Second Team member before the season, is averaging a career-high 14.7 points and 5.0 rebounds per game in 2022-23. He currently ranks fourth nationally in 3-point field goal percentage (45.6 percent). Became Asheville's all-time leading scorer on Saturday (1,923 points). Tied program's single game record for 3-pointers made in a game (eight) twice this season. Jones is the only player in conference history to score 1,800 points, grab 600 rebounds & make 300 3-pointers. Furthermore, Jones became Asheville's all-time leader in games played (145), minutes played (4,820), and 3-pointers made (349) this season. Heading into the postseason, Jones is 14^th on the Big South's all-time scoring list (1,923) and tied for fourth place on the Conference's 3-pointers made list with 349.

Abee has played in 28 games (27 starts) in 2022-23. The Morganton, N.C. native ranks second on the team shooting 43.9 percent from 3-point range. Abee is averaging 8.3 points per game, which ranks third on the team. A 2022-23 College Sports Communicators Academic All-District selection, Abee scored a season-high 20 points in Asheville's 76-66 win at Longwood to finish off the regular season. Ranks 14^th in Big South averaging 1.7 3-pointers made per game.

The full list of All-Conference honorees is listed below.

2022-23 MEN'S BASKETBALL ALL-CONFERENCE

First-Team All-Conference
Drew Pember, UNC Asheville
Isaiah Wilkins, Longwood
Kelton Talford, Winthrop
Tajion Jones, UNC Asheville
Jordan Gainey, USC Upstate

Second-Team All-Conference
DaQuan Smith, Radford
Ricky Clemons, Campbell
Claudell Harris Jr., Charleston Southern
Cory Hightower, Winthrop
DQ Nicholas, Gardner-Webb

Honorable Mention All-Conference
Zack Austin, High Point
Jaden House, High Point
DeShaun Wade, Longwood
Bryan Antoine, Radford
Kareem Reid, Gardner-Webb

All-Freshman Team
Anthony Dell'Orso, Campbell
Justin Bailey, USC Upstate
Jalen Forrest, Presbyterian
Kenyon Giles, Radford
Jordyn Surratt, USC Upstate

All-Academic Team
Laurynas Vaistaras, Campbell
Ademide Badmus, Gardner-Webb
Bryson Childress, High Point
Jesper Granlund, Longwood
Owen McCormack, Presbyterian
Shaquan Jules, Radford
Fletcher Abee, UNC Asheville
Thomas Sheida, USC Upstate

Player of the Year
Drew Pember, UNC Asheville

Freshman of the Year
Anthony Dell'Orso, Campbell

Defensive Player of the Year
Drew Pember, UNC Asheville

Coach of the Year
Mike Morrell, UNC Asheville

Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Owen McCormack, Presbyterian

Asheville will open play at the 2023 Hercules Big South Men's Basketball Championships on Friday afternoon in the Tournament's Quarterfinal round. The Bulldogs will play the winner of Wednesday's game between No. 8 High Point and No. 9 Charleston Southern on Friday. Tip-off for that matchup is set for Noon on ESPN+. If you can't make it to Charlotte, join fellow Bulldog fans at Bear's Smokehouse Barbeque, the proud postseason sponsor of Bulldog basketball, to watch the game.

University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics

Drew Pember Named Big South Player of the Year, Mike Morrell Tabbed Big South Coach of the Year; Four Bulldogs Earn All-Big South Honors

Players Mentioned

Fletcher Abee

Tajion Jones

Drew Pember

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